Supply chain

The legislation aims for faster development of uniform data-sharing standards, while the co-sponsors say they were also motivated to protect US shipping interests from what they view as China’s malign influence over the supply chain.

The testimony comes as two House members prepare legislation designed to update OSRA-22 and another congressman restarts an effort to remove the antitrust immunity of ocean carriers.

Forwarders that experimented with new software during the days of robust freight demand now face a dilemma over what technology produces actual returns on investment as volumes and margin shrink.

HMM’s decision to immediately cease charging demurrage fees at closed terminals comes as the US Federal Maritime Commission is finalizing rulemaking around free time billing practices.

The legislation also aims to provide a boost for US exporters by prioritizing getting their products into foreign markets and better defending them against container rate increases and detention and demurrage fees.

German unions demanding inflation-busting wage increases walked off the job Monday, bringing the country’s transport system to a halt.

US Federal Maritime Commission Chairman Daniel Maffei went before Congress Thursday to field questions about the agency’s budget, slow-going rulemaking, and whether new amendments are needed for shipping reform.

Ahead of a June deadline to issue new rulemaking on detention and demurrage billing, the Federal Maritime Commission is seeking clarity from carriers and terminals about billing shippers when container pickups and drop-offs are not possible.

Maersk in April will stop collecting detention and demurrage fees on days terminals are closed and shippers can’t pick up or drop off containers, a move yet to be followed by competing ocean carriers.

Breakbulk shippers and logistics providers have several proposals for changes to ISPM 15 mitigation and enforcement measures pending approval from the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Breakbulk industry executives warn new rules aimed at reducing vessel emissions could incentivize vessel operators to implement measures that increase emissions in other areas of the supply chain.

The independent equipment providers say upending the current business model would create additional chassis shortages and invoicing problems that would inconvenience cargo owners.

Widely used forwarding software provider WiseTech Global will pursue further US landside logistics technology targets in 2023, its CEO says.

The bill would heighten transparency into regulatory penalties levied against ocean carriers and marine terminal operators and draw a sharp line on the involvement of China-based entities in US shipping.

An advisory group created by the FMC two years ago is pushing the agency to act on several key issues, but some members have expressed frustration over the response from regulators.

Shippers that often use spreadsheets and small transportation teams to bid and execute freight shipments are the target of a new software tool from technology provider Shipwell.

In approving the $31 billion merger, the Surface Transportation Board rejected arguments from the FMC and competing railroads that the deal would harm US ports and shippers.

Freight rate booking marketplace Freightos said its unprofitable business is seeing improving margins and that scale will help it past the breakeven point.

Wan Hai is now looking at a larger civil penalty than it faced nearly a year ago following an investigation into detention charges the carrier assessed in the spring of 2021.

Most of the transportation job losses reported for February were due to seasonal cuts rather than economic contraction, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

A variety of data sources suggest it is premature to conclude that supply chain bottlenecks have reverted to their pre-COVID levels, as issues continue to be more pervasive than before the pandemic, writes analyst Jason Miller.

The Federal Maritime Commission is preparing to ask for another big increase in its budget as it looks to increase market surveillance and enforce OSRA-22.

Stripped of antitrust protection that is under scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as the legal certainty of being able to operate within alliances and perhaps even vessel-sharing agreements, ocean carriers could be all but forced to operate independently, writes Peter Tirschwell.

The Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association says the FMC’s chief administrative judge erred in issuing a summary judgement against the group because key facts are still in dispute.

Drayage software vendor PortPro is attempting to narrow the gap between the tools that port truckers and their shipper customers use with a new container milestone tracking product it has launched.

Shippers are keeping pressure on carriers to decarbonize their operations with the launch of another US-led initiative to speed up container shipping’s transition to fossil-free fuels.

Shippers are showing “healthy adoption” of a wide variety of digital transformation projects, according to new research from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The move by the carrier comes as the FMC is in the midst of a rulemaking process around detention and demurrage billing mandated by the passage of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 last June.

Shippers struggling to manage demurrage fees and container availability information have two new options to track the status of containers at ports.

Supply chain risk-focused technology provider Overhaul has channeled demand for reducing exposure to cargo theft into a $38 million funding round just a few weeks after acquiring competitor SensiGuard.

Technology startup Qualle is trying to overcome drayage industry inertia around matching empty import boxes with export loads outside of ports by using early-stage funding to serve every North American port market.

Even as demand headwinds buffet container lines, the CMA CGM Group posted record earnings in 2022 thanks to the lingering effects of the pandemic-fueled container market.

The federal government says it’s looking to fund projects across the country that will help move goods, particularly in rural areas, and strengthen the country’s supply chain.

Canadian National will grow its capacity based on the assumption that China will remain the biggest sourcing country for North America while acknowledging the shift under way into Southeast Asia, India, and potentially Africa that could fuel cargo through eastern Canada, its CEO told TPM23.

The container shipping industry needs to collaborate in finding alternatives to fossil fuels rather than each player following their own path, ONE CEO Jeremy Nixon told TPM23.

Flexport, the polarizing digital forwarder, will double down on technology development during a lull in global trade, new CEO Dave Clark said at TPM23.

MSC’s chief executive told TPM23 that the company’s hefty orderbook signals to customers that the carrier remains chiefly committed to ocean shipping, rather than selling an integrated supply chain service.

US shippers are entering an era of greater risk in China trade, retired Gen. David Petraeus warned, but the two largest global economies will remain linked despite moves to source goods elsewhere.

The forecast for the US and global economies is brighter than a year ago, with reduced risk of recession, thanks in part to the “decongestion” of supply chains, economist Nariman Behravesh said at TPM23. 

Retailers are discovering the importance of closely managing purchase orders as increasingly complex trans-Pacific supply chains spawned by the pandemic highlight the need for a heightened hands-on approach.